This invention generally relates to dairy creamers or coffee lighteners, and more particularly to a coffee creamer or lightener which has improved nutritional value and enhanced sensory appeal.
More coffee is purchased and consumed in the United States than in any other country of the world. However, coffee is consumed heavily in many other countries, making coffee one of the most popular beverages and second only to oil as a global commodity. Traditionally, coffee has been used with coffee creamers or lighteners to lighten the color of the coffee and to neutralize acids in the coffee, thereby producing a smoother, milder drink; and, as of 1991, 54% of those Americans who drink coffee drink it lightened. Most frequently, the public has used fluid, dairy-based coffee creamers or lighteners, such as milk in the home and "Half & Half" in portioned or controlled servings outside of the home. While "Half & Half" has been a popular creamer, it is a fluid milk product that has a butterfat content of not less than 10.5% by weight, to provide a creamer containing approximately 19% solids by weight. Although "Half & Half" provides the desired lightening or whitening of the coffee, the product has nutritional shortcomings, being high in cholesterol and saturated fats and typically containing approximately 22 calories per serving. A wide range of lighteners have been developed to compete with milk and "Half & Half," generally falling into three product categories. At the low end, there are powdered non-dairy creamers. The "Half & Half" products together with liquid, refrigerated, dairy creamers fill the high end, while liquid non-dairy creamers fill the middle category.
Powdered non-dairy creamers have the advantage that they are low in price per serving and are typically one-year shelf stable, so that they can be used anywhere, in offices, outdoor activities and anywhere else where there is no refrigeration. The visual appeal of non-dairy powders when mixed into it are generally acceptable, although the taste and the mouthfeel of the product is typically well below average. Nutritionally, powdered non-dairy creamers have little or no cholesterol, although they contain fats (some with a fat content per serving in excess of "Half & Half") and varying caloric values, chemical additives and derived constituents. Largely, these non-dairy powders contain sodium caseinate, a milk derivative.
Liquid non-dairy creamers are somewhat more costly per serving than the powdered creamers and typically have a 45-90 day refrigerated or frozen shelf life. The liquid non-dairy creamers are typically more appealing in terms of taste and mouthfeel than the powder counterparts, although they still fall far short of the dairy creamers, and tend to have a higher fat content. Both the powder and the liquid non-dairy creamers contain non-natural additives. While liquid non-dairy creamers usually contain no cholesterol, they may contain at least the fat of "Half & Half" and up to 45 calories per serving. The liquid non-dairy creamer product, therefore, appeals narrowly to people who are allergic to dairy products but prefer a creamier taste to the powders. While "Half & Half" is generally more expensive than the non-dairy creamers, it is an "all natural dairy product" which, in and of itself, has appeal to a large segment of the consumer market.
In order to retain the sensory appeal of "Half & Half" and try to enhance its nutritional and health values, numerous creamers have been introduced into the marketplace, many of which are of interest because they enhance one or more of the properties of the creamers, such as ease of handling and (unrefrigerated) shelf stability. One important driving force behind the development of many of these creamers has been to simulate a low cost fluid dairy creamer which has little or no butterfat and is low in cholesterol. However, as suggested, regardless of their physical form, non-dairy coffee lighteners typically contain at least as much fat as "Half & Half," this fat being introduced through the same essential ingredient, namely hydrogenated vegetable fats or oils thereof. Therefore, notwithstanding that non-dairy coffee lighteners contain no cholesterol, their content of highly saturated fats presents the same sort of dietary dilemma as the high cholesterol levels of high butterfat creamers, such as "Half & Half."
By way of a few specific examples, a low-fat dairy coffee lightener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,245 which is made from decreamed milk ultrafiltration retentate. A whitening enhancement is provided in the form of riboflavin and beta carotene. The composition is described as usually being in powdered form, high in protein, low in fat. The aforementioned patent has as its primary objective to provide a low-fat dairy coffee lightener with qualities substantially equal to a non-dairy coffee creamer. The disclosed lightener is also intended to provide substantially the same coloring in coffee as the non-dairy creamers. While the product is low in fat, with 0.5% or less of fat in the dairy coffee lightener by weight, the very low fat levels would appear to decrease the mouthfeel of the popular dairy creamers, such as "Half & Half." None of the ingredients mentioned in the patent would appear to provide an adequate substitute for the levels in fat required to provide the desired mouthfeel of the more popular creamers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,865 is for a low-fat coffee lightener. The patent discloses a substantially fat and cholesterol free, low calorie, fluid dairy coffee lightener which includes, as its major ingredient, low-fat milk having a butterfat content not exceeding 1.0% by weight and preferably less than about 0.4% by weight and non-fat dry milk solids. The product also includes an emulsifier. The objective of the product is to produce a coffee lightener that has the appearance, taste and mouthfeel of conventional high butterfat containing dairy creamers. The creamer has total solid contents of 18-25% by weight and a calorie content of less than 10 calories per serving. With a total solid content of 18-25% by weight, the product contains the approximately 19% by weight of solids contained in "Half & Half." However, while the total solids content of 18-25% by weight overlaps the levels in "Half & Half," the total butterfat is less than 1% by weight and, therefore, it does not appear that the patented product contains sufficient fat levels to provide the desired mouthfeel or creaminess of the product.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,849 for a liquid coffee lightener, an aqueous emulsion system is disclosed which contains fat or oil, water, carbohydrates, as the essential or the primary ingredients, and a protein hydrolysate to provide a stable emulsion. The hydrolysate provides an effective alternative, both functionally and organoleptically, for the use of sodium caseinate and buffering salts used in conventional liquid coffee lighteners. The liquid coffee lightener disclosed in this patent contains 3-18% vegetable fat by weight, with a preferred level being at 6.8% by weight. The creamer or lightener disclosed is not an all dairy creamer and contains higher levels of fat than is required to provide the desired mouthfeel and other organoleptic properties of "Half & Half" as well as other high end all natural dairy creamers or lighteners.